PPEL heard from Representatives and presented a legislative agenda at our first annual Legislative Breakfast in March. Priority issues included privatization, teacher retention, and accountability systems. Over two-dozen bills of interest were identified. Of those, only a few were moved out of the House Education Committee and further into the legislative process. During the session, local governance became an additional legislative priority.

Representative Vincent Pierre receives an “A” and Rep. Terry Landry receives a “B” for upholding legislative priorities that support students, teachers, and local school districts.

Representatives Taylor Barras, Stuart Bishop, Nancy Landry and Joel Robideaux receive a “F” for abandoning legislative priorities that support students, teachers, and local school districts and instead supporting corporate models, punitive assessments and decreased local control.

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Many lesson were learned from PPEL’s first engagement with the legislative session. Effective activism is challenging and the playing field is not level. Opponents of PPEL’s legislative priorities are well-funded and organized – but parents, educators and citizens put up a good fight and will use the lessons learned to become more effective.

Nothing can change without local activists willing to make a real commitment to policies that support students, teachers and local control of public schools.

Thank you to all who made a phone call, sent an email, or had a meeting with a legislator. We hope you were inspired to continue to speak out and express your opinion as a citizen. Ultimately, the citizen’s opinion about the legislators we elect is the opinion that matters.

About PPEL

We are parents, educators, and citizens who have come together around a common commitment to public education in Lafayette Parish. Our schools belong to us: the students who learn in them, the parents who support them, the educators and staff who work in them, and the communities that they anchor.
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